I couldn't help but respond to the Philippine Open Source Conference
2005 thread on PLUG when I saw the posts mentioning embedded Linux.
It's... amazing, really, to see how people are interested in it. =) So
I went on a trip down memory lane...

I can speak on developing for the iPAQ; my code is still
in the bootloader, and I played around with programming small apps for
it. (You can get a small CGI-capable web server or Python and have
tons of fun hacking in class.) I haven't touched it in three years,
though. It's been a while. If someone has made a more recent
contribution, I'd gladly step aside. Besides, (cross my fingers!) I
may be out of the country by the time of the conference.
Still, if I'm in the country and no one else is up for it, then I can
talk about having Linux in Your Pocket.

* * * flashback * * *

You know, that was the title of my _very_ first Linux-related talk at
Linux10 Philippines in 2001... I presented to just _one_ person, as he
was the only one in the room at the time my talk was supposed to
start. He was an IT journalist, so it wasn't totally wasted. After the
talk, I peeked out and found all these people who apparently had
wanted to hear the talk, but were too shy to go in while I was
presenting...

Incidentally, Linux on the iPAQ was _the_ thing that got me into
development. My first public CVS access, my first instance of getting
sent hardware (Jamey Hicks totally rocks)...

I learned so much from the conference—proof that the best way to
receive knowledge is to give it away! I met a lot of people that I
should definitely keep in touch with because they're doing really cool
things, like Dr. Maja, Justin, Pauline, Lawrence...

Here are some more conference notes:

Justin was a great speaker. He structured his talk to have some
interactivity, breaking the students up into groups so that they could
try out project planning. Slightly marred by students' inertia, but a
good idea anyway. He then put forward a humorous scenario that neatly
highlighted the challenges of project management and explained the
basics of PM through jokes and stories. Excellent speaker, probably
the best presenter in the conference.

They asked me to repeat my Knoppix talk for the benefit of the
students, so I did my whizbang look-how-much-you-can-get-on-one-CD
presentation. That was fun, too.

Met Dominique's landlady. She was really nice.

Had to buy a swimsuit. I came to Cebu without packing a swimsuit—what
was I thinking? Grabbed a pair of slippers, too.

Had dinner with the camera club. Dominique came as well. That was fun.

He's teaching me Bisaya. If I can learn enough Japanese to make myself
understood, I should be able to learn enough Bisaya to charm people.
Here's what I took up today:

Maayong hapon.

Good afternoon

Lingaw ka-ayo.

It's lots of fun.

Nindot ka-ayo.

It's very nice.

Maski studyante, kaya ka-ayo.

Even a student can do it.

Daghan ko natun-an gikan sa ...

I learned so much from ... (hmm, I think I got the Bisaya part wrong. Maayon?)

Daghang salamat.

Thank you.

(Thanks to James Lloyd Atwil for the corrections!)

I didn't get to use the phrases during my talk, though. Got nervous. =)

More thoughts on software patents. In short, I think they really suck,
and that our government should focus on fixing copyright.

My laptop wouldn't talk to the projector, so I did my Knoppix talk
without slides. I forgot to give people my e-mail address. Whoops.
Still, I have a few contacts, and I guess that's a good start. Most
people had already tried Linux, so I went for the
evangelization-of-others angle instead, although I threw in a few
benefits for newbies.

I misplaced Vahid's index card, but I know he's a Ma. IT student at
USC. I should write to him about repartitioning.

Chatted with Lawrence and Justin over dinner. Turns out they're both
into Stephenson and other SF stuff. (Thanks to Baryon for introducing
me to those books!) I think I convinced Justin to try out Emacs.

It was tons of fun geeking out and swapping stories. Lawrence is a
treasure-trove of business experience and geek stories. =)